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33-year-old Fargo man reported missing in California

FARGO — As Mother's Day approaches, Nancy Wilman Hafner said she is anxious to hear from her 33-year-old son from Fargo who was reported missing in Santa Cruz County, Calif.

"Maybe he's in an area without (cell) service or can't get his phone charged. I'm going on that, trying to stay positive," she said.

Her son, Christopher Ryan Yonan, was reported missing April 25, according to Sgt. Brian Cleveland of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office. Cleveland said there's "nothing out of the ordinary in the report" and that authorities don't believe the circumstances of Yonan's disappearance are suspicious.

Hafner, of Beulah, N.D., said Yonan went to work on a farm in northern California in February. He was staying with his friend, Lucas Sieg, formerly of Valley City, N.D.

Yonan later went to San Francisco, and Sieg never heard from Yonan again. Hafner said Yonan never went back to work, but planned to return to Fargo.

He shared photos and updates of his journey out West on Facebook, but hasn't posted since April 10. "I think that's why a lot of his friends are worried. It's not a normal thing for him to not talk to anybody or even post anything on Facebook," she said.

Yonan's friends and family from Fargo and his hometown of Beulah have been using social media to spread the word about his disappearance.

Hafner last heard from her son April 13 when he messaged her, saying he was taking a bus to San Jose, Calif. A missing person poster says Yonan was last seen around April 20 in Arcata, Calif.

Yonan is white, 6-foot-3 and 200 to 210 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call his mother at (701) 870-0883.

Kim Hyatt is a reporter with The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and a 2014 graduate of the University of Minnesota Duluth. She started her newspaper career at the Owatonna People’s Press covering arts and education. In 2016, she received Minnesota Newspaper Association's Dave Pyle New Journalist Award and later that year she joined The Forum newsroom.